BMW PGA R2: Hideki Matsuyama holding off trio of Ryder Cup stars at Wentworth

Hideki Matsuyama holds a one-shot lead over three European Ryder Cup stars at the halfway stage of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

The former Masters champion may be making his debut in the DP World Tour's flagship tournament, but he played the West Course like a seasoned veteran as he fired a brilliant 64 to hit the front on 12-under-par.

Matsuyama made two eagles on day two despite having to tackle the worst of the weather on day two, and he will go into the weekend with a narrow advantage over Justin Rose, Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg on a leaderboard that will be encouraging to Luke Donald's eyes.

Hovland made the most of the dry earlier conditions and fired a bogey-free 66 to set the clubhouse target at 11-under, and the young Norwegian is now a remarkable 40-under for his last nine rounds at Wentworth.

Rose continued to defy his age as the evergreen Englishman birdied the final two holes to match Hovland's 66, while first-round leader Aberg added a 69 to his opening 64, a late stutter at the 17th costing the Swede a share of the lead.

Former US Open champion Rose is chasing his first win at Wentworth on his 20th appearance, and he promised to put the "hammer down" over the weekend.

"It would mean a lot, it's on my bucket list," Rose said. "I can't deny it, I can't hide from it. The Ryder Cup is round the corner, but I said at the beginning of the week that if you're get into contention this week, it becomes all about this week and this weekend will be all about this tournament.  

"If you're in the middle of the pack, you might start thinking about Bethage and what-have-you.  But yeah, I've got a great weekend ahead of me.  I mean, I've got more choppy weather coming in, so it's going to be a little bit of see what happens out there, to be honest with you, but I'm feeling comfortable.

"I think stay in your stay aggressive, I guess, because even though the course feels like it's playing tough, opposite the scoreboard wouldn't suggest. So, yeah, hammer down!"  

Matt Fitzpatrick is among a large group of players on 7-under after the Englishman also coped well with some torrential downpours in the afternoon session, although his 71 would have been one better had he not called a penalty on himself on the 4th, when his ball moved as he addressed it.

Fitzpatrick is just five off the lead along with former 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed and the in-form Marco Penge, who is currently the closest challenger to Rory McIlroy in the Race to Dubai standings.

McIlroy, meanwhile, made a dreadful start to his second round, dropping three shots in a row from the third, although he staged a spirited recovery with five birdies in a seven-hole stretch around the turn.

But he struggled over the closing holes and blocked his tee-shot out-of-bounds at the last, a mistake that cost him a double-bogey seven which dropped him back to 3-under and left him with a mountain to climb to reel in the leaders over the weekend.

McIlroy and Shane Lowry (-3) both declined to speak to the media after their rounds, as did Jon Rahm despite the Spaniard enjoying a birdie-birdie finish to get to 4-under.

Of the other European Ryder Cup players on show, Tyrrell Hatton is on 5-under after an erratic 70, while Tommy Fleetwood scraped into the weekend when he holed from 8 feet for birdie at the last to close right on the cut mark at 2-under.

Bob MacIntyre also needed birdies at two of the last three holes to avoid an an unscheduled weekend off, but Ryder Cup rookie, Rasmus Hojgaard, will be working on his game on the range for a couple of days after the Dane closed on 5-over, and that could have been much worse had he not birdied the last three holes!